She had gone to her first feeding at the Moons, had felt the first clutch of fear, and had suffered her first real sign of any kind of abuse when the vampire got a little carried away and her escort had to rough him up some. While it had scared her, she was still in that stubborn 'I can take care of myself' stage of denial. But she did stay in the swan house more now, keeping to the backyard.

She was sitting out on the grass, wearing just simple jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, her blonde hair tied back into a braid. On her lap was an acoustic guitar her sister had sent her from her stuff back home. Slowly, she was beginning to get her belongings into the room she had claimed at the swan house. She knew her sister was busy, she was actually pregnant with twins, so she told her as long as she had enough clothes, she was fine.

She was strumming her guitar and humming a soft tune to herself, not wanting to disturb the others in the house. However, it didn't take her long before she got caught up in the music and began to sing in a soft voice:

Gillian looked up suddenly as a voice was directed to her. "Oh I wasn't looking for permission." she said with a flash of smile as she indicated the pencil in her fingers. "I dropped this and then there was some rolling involved." she explained. She slipped the pencil behind her ear and came down the rest of the stairs, art book still under her arm. She might not ever have the guts to be in a tattoo studio but drawing was part of the job and she liked to pretend it was an option when she got sick of writing.

"Was that a song you wrote?" she asked the new swan, not really knowing her and only had the basic gossip that she was new and she was apparently going to stay. Gillian had no problem with that. She was new herself so the more the merrier as far as she was concerned. She had already decided not to date any of the men she shared a house with so there was no chance of jealousy, and the house could use some girlie energy

A CAREER IS WONDERFUL BUT CAN YOU CURL UP WITH IT AT NIGHT+++++++++++JILL+++++++++++

She chuckled, but didn't stop strumming on the guitar. There were times when she got like this, just wanted to sing. It had comforted her and her siblings just after their parents deaths, and it comforted her now.

"No, I didn't write the song," she told Gillian, having learned the names of the birds who lived in the house. There weren't that many to learn, really, but then there were also the allies like Diana and Cecelia. She needed to know who she could turn to if she needed it.

"It's one I used to sing to my siblings," she continued, "It was a comfort during hard times, and my mother used to sing it to us when we were kids." Really, it was her mother who had given her the appreciation she had for music. "I'm hoping that somehow I can sing around town. Maybe at the Moons...but I doubt it. All they want from a swan is a neck to nibble." She smiled at Gillian, looking as if she wasn't really bothered by that part of the job. She had told Luke she would do whatever she could to contribute, and she would.

She thought about it for a moment but finally had to shrug. "I'm not to sure about how to go about that. I could ask my Uncle but he isn't really into the music scene here.' Armand liked his old classics, the kind of music that people just didn't seem to play any more. Or so he assured her. gillian wasn't passionate about music so she didn't really car.

"I don't think that is the right kind of music for moons anyway." Gillian told Cianna. "And there are to many predators in there.' She shivered and hugged herself. "Do you do anything else except play guitar?" she asked, maybe it would be a better option for finding work. "Finding any kind of job where you do bare your throat is rare and few between in this city so just tread carefully."

A CAREER IS WONDERFUL BUT CAN YOU CURL UP WITH IT AT NIGHT+++++++++++JILL+++++++++++

"There are quite a few predators there," Cianna nodded, but didn't shudder or hug herself like Gillian did. She was determined not to show how being around them bothered her. She was determined not to be just another swan for them to worry about.

"I can sew," she answered Gillian's question, "And I can cook pretty good...not great, but good." Though she would probably stay as a donator to the Court. Luke had told her that there were few swans who either could or wanted to donate. "Maybe I'm just meant to play with the hunters for a little while longer."

Gillian shrugged. "Always good to be aware of opportunities though. Sorry I can't be more help.' She apologised and took a seat on the chair nearby. It was supposed to be under the cover but someone must have dragged it out before so it sat in the sun. The sun was so rare these days and only getting more and more rare with winter coming in. it wasn't really sun light anyway but more like the clouds were slightly parted right now.

she took a seat and opened her sketch pad and started doodling with nothing really in mind but found herself humming the song that Cianna had been playing awhile she had been catching her pencil. "So are you going to stay here for the long term or just as long as it is convenient?" she asked not looking up from her work and not really being as rude as it might sound. Swans were naturally migrating animals. Their shifter counter parts seem to have a similar desire unless something kept them stationary.

A CAREER IS WONDERFUL BUT CAN YOU CURL UP WITH IT AT NIGHT+++++++++++JILL+++++++++++

"It's okay," Cianna smiled, "I'll find my niche." She smiled and strummed on her guitar, playing a song, but not singing the words to it. She was enjoying the sun and the company and just being outside and feeling a little more freer than she had in months.

"I don't know," she admitted when Gillian asked if she was here to stay or if she'd move on, "It depends, really. If Reese comes here and starts harassing me again, I'll probably go, if only to save the rest of you the headache." So far, he hadn't tried contacting her, but Cianna had a feeling the King wasn't going to give up.

...to Seattle, with all its thousand contradictions. A city of silicon dreams and bloody nightmares. Ruled by a child queen with diamond-tipped fangs, occupied by artists and shapeshifters, computer programmers and ancient vampires, college students and creatures of myth. Living (and unliving) together and once the sun goes down it's...

In-character content, help files, and original plots belong to the staff and members. If you see something cool you'd like to play with, ask. Given that we're using somebody else's mythos, it'd be pretty lame if we refused to share.